Chicago

Chicago Mother of 2, Missing For a Week, Found Fatally Shot in Gary

A teenage mother of two from Chicago whose family pleaded for her safe return after she went missing was found shot to death in Gary, Indiana Tuesday night, according to the Lake County coroner's office.

Natoria Goines, 19, was found fatally shot in the 3900 block of Delaware Street behind a church. Her death was ruled homicide.

Before authorities confirmed her death, family members were looking for answers after Goins left her Chicago home Feb. 21 and had not been seen since.

She was a home healthcare provider—and family members say she started a new job the day she disappeared. Her family gathered at The Sanctuary Church on the Far South Side Feb. 27 to pray and ask for help. Before her body was found, Goins’ 6-year-old daughter, Latoya, was pleading for her mother’s return.

“I want my mommy to come home,” she says. “I miss my mommy.”

Bishop Virgil Jones is Goins’ cousin.

“She loves her children, she’s devoted to her children—and she would never leave her children,” he said at the time.

Donna Bass-Presley, Goins’ mother, worried something bad had happened.

“Natoria does have a family that loves her very much,” Goins’ aunt, Codella Bass, said. “And we miss her and we want her to come home.”

Authorities were investigating Thursday night.

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